


Under the surface, behind the scenes

by flightinflame



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: BAMF Charles, BAMF Erik Lehnsherr, Canon Disabled Character, M/M, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Night Terrors, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Protective Erik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Apocalypse is defeated. Erik stays at the school, to help Charles rebuild. But not all the damage is easy to see.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69
Collections: Secret Mutant Madness 2019





	Under the surface, behind the scenes

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [cherikinkrakoa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherikinkrakoa/pseuds/cherikinkrakoa) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2019) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> After Apocalypse is defeated, Erik remains at the school with Charles. Before too long, Erik starts to notice Charles acting different, that he's become darker. Whether Apocalypse did something to his mind or the experience changed Charles, it's all entirely up to you.

Charles's life lay in ruins, and with the powers he had been given, Erik could fix it. That was enough to persuade him to stay. It was the least he could do, after all the harm he caused. This was his chance to make up for it, in some small way. 

So he stayed, at the school, because they needed him. Because, if he flattered himself - Charles needed him. And anyway, he had nowhere else to go. He couldn't return to his old home, even if he wouldn't have been chased away with a mob wielding pitchforks. 

And, if he was honest with himself,his home was always going to be with Charles. No matter what happened, he was always drawn back to the man. He was sure that Hank could have explained it as them being caught in each other's orbits, their gravities being entwined - or maybe something smaller scale even than that, them not being stars but atoms or quantum particles, entangled together.

Whenever he thought like that, Charles would look over at him and smile fondly, and more often than not, Erik would smile back.

Egypt had been tough. Somehow, they'd all made it home, with the greatest losses being Peter's leg and Charles's hair. But it had come close to more. He could have killed them. If Charles had failed - if he had failed - if Jean hadn't found strength beyond anything they could imagine - they would all be dead now, and the humans would be gone. 

Erik had come far too close to becoming everything he hated, and he didn't know where he went from there, how he could possibly balance it all out, make it work. Because Charles deserved him to be someone he could trust, and he'd almost betrayed them all.

 _You were being controlled, Erik. Stop worrying. He was in your head. Only someone with strong shields could have stopped him._ Charles spoke, and Erik fought down the urge to jump at that, because he'd not given Charles permission to read those thoughts. But then, Charles was just keeping him safe. It was only normal, to be jumpy after everything that had happened.

That was the other reason Erik had stayed. Because on their plane home, he had felt Charles cringing inside his mind, shaking and searching for some kind of security, and Erik might have been a traitor and a murderer, but he couldn't say no to that, not when Charles needed him.

So he did what he could to rebuild the school, and talked to Charles about what would happen next, and planned layers of defences - Charles was taking the school's security more seriously now. He was trying to work out early warning systems for if the government came, and monitoring for potential mutant threats, and a system of alarms for if there were intruders. There were mutants whose powers could be used to lay traps, and others that could monitor large spaces.

 _Could you come to my office? We need to talk over these plans again._ Charles pleaded, and Erik sent back an affirmative, hurrying across to the office, to find Charles sat at a table, surrounded by papers. His eyes were blank, and he was staring ahead, shaking slightly, soft noises escaping his lips.

Erik's first thought was that Charles was having some kind of seizure, followed by terror that he was being telepathically attacked.  
 _JEAN!_ he screamed inside his head, as he approached Charles, already pulling metal from Charles's chair to restrain him if needed.

"Charles? Charles look at me." Erik ordered, and there was a moment before Charles's eyes flicked towards him, and he jumped, the pen clattering off his desk. Erik caught it in midair, returning it to his desk, and walking forwards, standing where Charles could see him.

"Charles?" He asked again, and Charles looked at him coldly, and then shook his head and nodded. 

"Sorry." Charles muttered. "Headache."

Jean appeared in the doorway, panting, her top on inside out. Erik looked at her, and decided it was better not to question that clothing choice.

"What?" Jean asked, and Erik paused.

"Charles was.." He sent her the mental image, feeling Charles grousing.

Jean frowned, stepping forwards towards her mentor.  
"Again?" she asked, sitting down opposite him.

"Sorry." Charles muttered. "Just distracted. Erik was helping me with planning where we go next, and I just... lost track of time." 

Jean frowned, but stepped away and nodded.

"We need to work on these defences, Erik." Charles said, and Erik frowned as Jean spoke in his mind.

_He's terrified. He's barely holding it together and I don't know what to-_

_I'll help him._ Erik promised, and sat down opposite Charles. He understood, suddenly. He'd seen this before, in the camps. Hell, he'd been like this himself when he first broke out, only he'd been a child and had thought that it was normal. And here was the strongest man he knew, shivering in terror and trying to pretend that he was fine, because he couldn't be anything other than fine.

"What was it Charles?"

"He was in my head," Charles whispered, and Erik could see the tears that were threatening. "He was in my head and... he might still be there, or he'll come back, or-"

"We'll have Jean look," Erik promised, reaching for Charles's hands, letting him shake and fall apart. He walked around the desk, sitting awkwardly on Charles's lap so that he could embrace him tightly, and Charles sobbed into his neck, shuddering and falling apart.

"I keep hearing him," Charles whispered. "I keep... what if he is coming back, what if I fail the school again, what if he comes for our children and-"

"I'm here." Erik pressed a kiss to Charles's forehead.

"I hear him in my dreams and...what if it worked, what if I'm him or I fail them and what if he's back and-" Charles was gasping for air.

Erik looked into his eyes.  
"If he comes back, we fight him together. But he is gone. We're free, and your mind is playing tricks on you. We'll look at these plans, and keep the students safe, but Charles...when did you last sleep?"

"You mean...without nightmares?" Charles laughed, but the smile was bitter. "Before Egypt."

Erik nodded, holding him close.  
"I'm here. We can fight this together. You're strong Charles, you're so strong, but you don't have to do it alone."

Charles nodded, and Erik could feel the tears that were running down Charles's face, pressed against his neck. He rubbed his back, and promised again and again that somehow, they were going to be alright.


End file.
